TheFoGuangShanBuddhistOrderandBuddha’sLightInternationalAssociationfoundedbyVenerableMasterHsingYun,twooftheworld’slargestBuddhistorganizations,arededicatedtothespreadofHumanisticBuddhism,a21stcenturyformofBuddhismaimedatbetteringthisworldandhumanlifebyfollowingtheBuddha’steachings.Throughoutthepast50years,tremendousprogresshasbeenmadeinthecirclesofChinese-speakingcommunities,whilesteadyeffortsaremadeinrenderingthisvastamountofBuddhistcorpusintoEnglish,Spanish,French,Portuguese,andsometwentyotherlanguages.
Assaid,“Tolearnanewlanguageistakeonanewculture,anewworld.”FurtherdifficultiesarisewhenitcomestolearningBuddhisminanewlanguage,stillaworldthatawaitsthelightofwisdomandexperiencetobeshed.AnyaspiringtranslatordaringtotakeonthisdauntingtaskoftranslatingBuddhisttextsintotheirownlanguagewouldnodoubtappreciateasmuchhelpastheycanobtain.
ThepresentGlossaryofHumanisticBuddhism《中英人間佛教詞彙選》isafullyrevisedandexpandedversionoftheStandardizedFGSNamesandTermscreatedbytheInternationalBuddhistProgressSociety(IBPS)in2005,andapprovedbytheFGSBoardofDirectors.AdditionalentrieshavebeencompiledfromallEnglishpublicationsunderFoGuangShan’sculturalundertakings,suchas:FoGuangCulturalEnterprise,FoGuangShanInternationalTranslationCenter,Buddha’sLightPublications,FoGuangShanInstituteofHumanisticBuddhism,andBuddha’sLightInternationalAssociation(BLIA).
TheeditorialteamhopesthisvolumewillshedlightonthemanyreferencestoFoGuangShanandBLIAterms,historicalevents,persons,places,publications,andfrequentlyusedBuddhistterminology,concepts,sutratitles,andquotesthatappearinpublicationsbyFoGuangShan,aswellasworksofVenerableMasterHsingYun.Entriesareselected,basedontheinterestandrequestbytranslatorsatFoGuangShanandBLIA,inhopesthatthisvolumeassistintheirreadingsoftheCompleteWorksofVenerableMasterHsingYun,understandingofvernacularBuddhistexpressions,andtranslationworksofHumanisticBuddhism.
Thiseditioncontainssome5,000entriesdividedintothefollowingbasiccategories:1)Terminology,2)Building,3)Event,4)Department,5)Publication,and6)VenerableMasterHsingYun’sOne-StrokeCalligraphy,detailedfurtherbytheabbreviationslistedonpageviii.
Suggestionsandcommentsbyperceptivereaderswillbeofvitalinterestandvaluefortheamendmentsoffutureeditions.Readersareencouragedtowritetotheeditorialteamfortheimprovementsoffutureeditions.
Anonlineversionoftheglossaryisavailableat:http://fgsihb.org/dictionary
TheeditorialteamwouldliketodedicatethiseditionoftheGlossaryofHumanisticBuddhismtoallexperiencedandaspiringtranslatorsaswellasinterpreterswhohavepavedthewayfortheglobaldisseminationofHumanisticBuddhism,theBuddhismastaughtbytheBuddhaforhumanbeings,topurifyandmakethisworldvirtuousandbeautiful.
